Here’s a wee chuckle for ye:

And then there is the real news — funny, ludicrous and surreal:

2013/03/22: BBC: Punxsutawney Phil ‘indicted’ in Ohio over late-spring prediction
Authorities in the US state of Ohio have issued an “indictment” against Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog famed for predicting spring’s arrival, after he got it wrong this year. The groundhog forecast an early spring when he did not see his shadow as he emerged from hibernation on 2 February. But tongue-in-cheek prosecutors in Ohio’s Butler County accuse the rodent of deliberately misleading the public.

2013/03/22: BBC: Power in MPs’ ‘hot air’ weighed up
Students at the University of Leicester have calculated the power available from the “hot air” produced by MPs. As part of a fourth-year project, students determined that 650 MPs produce more than 10kW of heat just through “prolonged speaking”.

Looking ahead to COP19 and future international climate negotiations:

2013/03/22: RTCC: World’s poorest countries meet for Kathmandu climate summit
Representatives from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group are meeting in Kathmandu to discuss their plans to raise ambition at the UN climate talks. The three-day strategy event will see around 20 key members discuss their strategy for the COP19 UN talks in Warsaw at the end of the year as well as plans for a global climate deal in 2015.

March 22nd was World Water Day:

2013/03/22: CNN: World Water Day: An end to global thirst is in sight
Chief Exec of NGO WaterAid says clean water for everyone on planet achievable by 2030 – Clean water a “foundation of human development” says Barbara Frost – New WaterAid interactive explores how clean water can transform communities – Interactive visits Alakamisy, a remote area of Madagascar that WaterAid helped in 2010

2013/03/18: UCopenhagen:NBI: More hurricane surges in the future
By examining the frequency of extreme storm surges in the past, previous research has shown that there was an increasing tendency for storm hurricane surges when the climate was warmer. But how much worse will it get as temperatures rise in the future? How many extreme storm surges like that from Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. coast in 2005, will there be as a result of global warming? New research from the Niels Bohr Institute show that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency if the climate becomes two degrees Celcius warmer.

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We’ll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile…
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

2013/03/23: al Jazeera: Ancient aqueducts give Iraq a trickle of hope
A millennia-old labyrinth of underground canals may help solve the Middle East’s water crisis, say experts. In the windswept plateaus of northern Iraq, unseen aqueducts which have channelled water to arid settlements for centuries are running dry. Experts say the wide-scale demise of these ancient water systems is an ominous sign of how scarce water in the region will soon become, and the humanitarian disasters that could follow.

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

2013/03/22: CNN: Are African land grabs really water grabs?
Large-scale land deals in Africa can be seen as “water grabs, write three researchers – Taking land for development often has implications for for local people’s water rights – Jennifer Franco, Lyla Mehta and Gert Jan Veldwisch ask: Who has the right to the water in a river?

A relatively quiet week after Tropical Cyclone Tim faded:

2013/03/20: ABC(Au): Winds to ease from ex-cyclone Tim
The weather bureau says strong winds along Queensland’s north and central coast will ease later today as ex-tropical cyclone Tim continues to weaken. The low-pressure system is about 260 kilometres east of Townsville.

This week in notable weather:

2013/03/23: BBC: Power problems remain after severe cold cuts supplies
Thousands of homes around the UK remain without electricity after severe weather disrupted supplies. Up to 18,000 properties in Northern Ireland, 10,000 in Scotland and 2,000 in Wales have been without power overnight despite efforts by energy firms to reconnect them. Weather warnings also remain in place across much of the UK after two days of wintery conditions. Two people are known to have died – one in Lancashire and one in Cornwall.

2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Mega eruptions caused mass extinction
A mass extinction event 200 million years ago that wiped out half of all species on Earth was caused by volcanic activity, a new study says. The finding reported today in the journal Science, provides the tightest link yet between the release of huge amounts of volatile gases during a series of mega-eruptions and a global die-off of marine and terrestrial species known as the end-Triassic-extinction.

2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Witnesses say tornado was like bomb going off
Witnesses who saw two tornadoes that tore through communities in north-eastern Victoria say it was like a bomb went off. At least 20 people were taken to hospital, two in a critical condition, after the tornadoes touched down in a line stretching from Cobram to Rutherglen just after 7:00pm yesterday. Authorities say it will take days to clean up the damage.

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

2013/03/24: ABC(Au): Destructive Tasmanian fires finally extinguished
Two bushfires that destroyed more than 100 homes and devastated parts of the Tasman Peninsula have been finally extinguished. The fire, which started in Forcett on January 3, tore through tore through the towns of Dunalley, Boomer Bay and Murdunna. It destroyed 100 homes, and thousands of residents and tourists were evacuated by boat.

Glaciers are melting:

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

2013/03/22: ABC(Au): NZ drought spreads to South Island
New Zealand’s worst drought in decades has officially expanded to the South Island. The usually rain-soaked north-west of the South Island was included in the drought listing today. Last week the government declared the entire North Island drought stricken.

2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Drought hits New Zealand
A drought has struck what is usually one of the wettest parts of New Zealand. The president of the New Zealand’s Farmers Federation says the dry spell is so unusual it’s about as likely as having a snowstorm in Darwin. Last week, the government declared the entire North Island as drought-stricken. Today, the north-west of the South Island officially joined the big dry as well.

What’s new in conservation?

2013/03/19: ABC(Au): NZ and US push for world’s biggest marine reserve
New Zealand and the United States want to make the Ross Sea the world’s biggest marine reserve and Australia have backed the plan. The reserve would cover 1.6 million square kilometres of ocean and protect another 1.9 million square kilometres of coastline. The proposal for the two sanctuaries will be considered at a meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Germany in July. The Ross Sea is home to an estimated 16,000 species.

What’s new in restoration?

2013/03/20: ABC(Au): ‘Kimberley Ark’ gene bank to save species from toad plague
There are fears for the ongoing survival of the diverse wildlife of Western Australia’s Kimberley, as the dreaded cane toad crosses borders and moves into the region. Scientists are urgently calling for a gene bank to be established to store the genetic data of at-risk animals until the toad threat can be dealt with.

2013/03/21: NatureNB: French scientists protest against research bill
A number of higher-education unions and the campaign group Let’s Save Research called a strike today demanding withdrawal of a bill, adopted yesterday by the French cabinet, to reform higher education and research. The bill is aimed to remedy flaws in a 2007 law (loi relative aux libertés et responsabilités des universités; LRU), but has been described by the protestors as being more of the same. “As in Quebec, Great Britain and Chile, French universities are being deliberately driven to bankruptcy by laws,” they said in a joint statement.

2013/03/10: WaPo: Can the world fight climate change and energy poverty at the same time?
The United Nations has set two huge energy-related goals for the coming century. The first is to bring electricity to the 1.3 billion people who still don’t have it. The second is to curtail fossil fuel use and keep global warming below 2°C. Those are daunting goals. They’re also in somewhat awkward tension with each other. The first requires increasing the amount of energy the world uses, including fossil fuels. The second requires harnessing cleaner power sources, using energy more efficiently, and even conserving power. So is it possible to do both at once?

South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

Now that the EU-ETS for airlines is in year long limbo, will it ever be resurrected?

2013/03/22: EurActiv: Low-fare airlines to sue EU for ‘stopping the clock’ on ETS
The European Low Fares Airline Association says it will file a lawsuit against the European Commission’s proposed one-year suspension of the Emissions Trading System’s (ETS) application to airlines if the measure is approved.
[…]
The EU’s temporary halt to the ETS was intended to allow time for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to devise a global alternative. But in the meantime, international airlines which bitterly attacked the cap and trade scheme at every turn will be exempted from it, while intra-European airlines, which had supported it, will not.

In the global competition for Rare Earths and other natural resources:

Regarding the EU FQD: Fuel Quality Directive:

2013/03/18: EurActiv: EU must play hardball on tar sands, says Canadian chief [Bill Erasmus]
A Canadian indigenous chief is urging the European Union to resist Canada’s efforts to soften European legislation that would label tar sands as more polluting than conventional oil, saying the burgeoning energy industry threatens the country’s northwest indigenous people. The Canadian government is pursuing a policy of oil extraction from tar sands – also known as oil sands – in western provinces that are believed to contain the world’s largest source of oil after Saudi Arabia. Ottawa has stepped up lobbying efforts in the EU, aimed in part at quashing pending legislation it says could hurt the tar sands industry. Under proposed amendments to the Fuel Quality Directive, the EU would label the unconventional oil as some 20% more polluting than other fuel sources. “We can’t deny that climate change is occurring. We can’t deny that the future of Mother Earth is in question,” said Chief Bill Erasmus, the northwest regional leader of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s body for its indigenous populations. “And so the European Union is now saying that places like the tar sands can no longer continue as they have in the past,” he told EurActiv in an interview. “We’re very happy this is occurring. We know that Canada is lobbying against that.”

2013/03/22: Eureka: ‘Water Security': Experts propose a UN definition on which much depends
[…]
UN-Water, the United Nations’ inter-agency coordination mechanism for all water-related issues, says water security should be defined as:
“The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.”

2013/03/20: BBC: New EU farm subsidy plan criticised by green groups
Farmers will be paid twice by taxpayers for the same work if Europe’s farm ministers get their way over subsidies. Ministers have backed double payments for environmental activities – even though the EU Commission and MEPs warn this would be wasteful and illegal. They also watered down the Commission’s plan to oblige farmers to deliver some public benefit for their 58bn-euro (£50bn; $75bn) annual subsidies. The Irish EU presidency praised the outcome. But green groups are outraged.

2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Flood damage report informs further funding
The NSW Department of Primary Industries has prepared a preliminary report on the the effect of last month’s floods on the mid north coast’s primary producers. The report has been compiled via information received on the Damage Hotline as well as industry reports and assessments by DPI staff. The information will be considered by the state and commonwealth governments to determine whether further assistance will be offered to the region.

2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Forestry Tas keeps production forests
Forestry Tasmania will retain control of production forests under the Government’s restructure of the state-owned company. The company will be split in two, transferring control of national parks and reserves to a new statutory authority to be created within the Parks and Wildlife Department.

The Labor Party has had a ‘spill’ ie. a mjor internecine fight over leadership:

2013/03/23: ABC(Au): Gillard prepares for frontbench shake-up
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is working on drastic changes to her frontbench after losing four experienced ministers in the wake of a botched attempt to unseat her. Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr resigned yesterday over their support for former leader Kevin Rudd, and will join Simon Crean on the backbench. Federal Transport Minister and Leader of the House Anthony Albanese is also under pressure to consider his future.

2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Labor woes may stifle Gillard’s hopes for clear air
Senior Labor ministers are hoping this week’s leadership spill and subsequent resignations will give Julia Gillard clear air to sell the party’s message. But some supporters say uniting a divided party will be extremely difficult this close to an election, and analysts are predicting more leadership troubles if the party slips further in the polls. The Prime Minister is facing a major a reshuffle of her frontbench after the resignations of some of Labor’s most senior ministers in the wake of Thursday’s spill. Three ministers, including two from Cabinet, are heading to the backbench and Kevin Rudd has vowed there were no circumstances under which he would return as Labor leader.

2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Rudd gives up hope of return to Labor leadership
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has issued a statement ruling out ever being Labor leader again. Mr Rudd decided not to run in yesterday’s abortive Labor leadership spill, leaving Prime Minister Julia Gillard to be re-elected unopposed. This morning a statement was posted on Mr Rudd’s website, conceding that his leadership hopes were now over. But he said he still planned to stand again for Labor at September’s federal election.

2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Gillard survives day of leadership turmoil
At the end of a remarkable day in federal politics, Julia Gillard has declared the party’s leadership ructions “completely at an end”. She emerged from the third leadership spill in less than three years still Prime Minister – re-elected unopposed and unanimously by a caucus which has once again revealed just how deep its divisions run.

2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Disunity is killing Labor, says Crean
Labor party elder Simon Crean has launched an extraordinary intervention in the Government’s leadership dilemma, criticising the tactics of the current leaders and calling for an end to the “stalemate”. He has also urged those MPs agitating for a spill to “pull back” and stop destabilising the Government. Some MPs have been urging former prime minister Kevin Rudd to “make himself available” to once again challenge Julia Gillard. But Mr Crean says the government must be unified.

2013/03/20: ABC(Au): Fitzgibbon confirms Labor leadership discussions
Chief Government whip and key Kevin Rudd supporter Joel Fitzgibbon has confirmed that Labor MPs are discussing the leadership – adding to rumours that a challenge is brewing against the Prime Minister. Criticism of Julia Gillard’s handling of the contentious media laws and her continued poor polling has triggered the latest round of speculation.

No matter who leads Labor, it’s still a long way to the September election:

After years of wrangling the Murray Darling Basin plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:

2013/03/18: ABC(Au): New row over Namoi Water Study
A coal economist who’s issued a scathing review of Scenario Seven of the Namoi Water Study has conceded water is not his area of expertise. The Scenario contemplates the rapid development of eight coal seam gas fields and at least 24 mines in the Namoi catchment, extracting up to 160-million tonnes of coal per annum

2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Mal Peters “insulted” over Namoi WS review
The Chair of the Ministerial Oversight Committee of the Namoi Water Study, Mal Peters, says he’s insulted by the NSW government’s review of Scenario Seven of the Study. The “worst-case” Scenario Seven assumes at least 24 coal mines operating together in the Namoi catchment along with eight coal seam gas fields. Coal economist, Dr Don Barnett, reviewed the Study describing its hypothetical coal production levels as “implausible”, “over the top” and “unrealistic”.

2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Fallout in China over delegates’ pollution revolt
The fallout is being felt in China after an open revolt over air pollution at the country’s annual session of parliament. In a dramatic shift from what is normally expected at a rubber-stamp Congress, a third of delegates rejected the new make-up of a key environmental pollution committee when they were asked to endorse it.

2013/03/19: CBC: Envoy to deal with First Nations concerns on pipelines
Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford to submit preliminary report to Harper by June Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named an envoy to defuse the tension between First Nations and the energy and pipeline industry that threatens his plan to quickly develop Canada’s natural resources. Vancouver-based lawyer Doug Eyford will focus on energy infrastructure in Western Canada and submit a preliminary report directly to Harper by the end of June and a final report by the end of November.

The IdleNoMore movement is changing:

2013/03/23: CPW: Journey of Nishiyuu: A quest to solidify bonds between First Nations
A quest undertaken by the youth of Great Whale to solidify the traditional bonds between First Nations by Chief Stan George
Accompanied by one experienced guide, 6 youths from the community of Great Whale, located in Northern Quebec on the shores of Hudson’s Bay, have commenced a sacred quest that is intended to unite the different First Nations of Canada. They will walk from Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuaraapik to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a journey totalling over 1500 kilometres, to deliver a strong message to other First Nations across Canada that the Cree Nation of Quebec are not sell-outs but true keepers of their language, culture, traditions and, more importantly today, that the Cree Nation continues to respect the sacred laws of our ancestors.

The Harper gang is still muzzling those pesky scientists:

2013/03/21: CBC: Experimental Lakes scientists kept in dark on facility’s future
Researchers forced to call Department of Fisheries and Oceans to confirm closure Scientists with ongoing projects at the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario had to contact the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to find out they would not be allowed to work at the facility this summer. Principal researchers on a mercury contamination study in the area initiated and arranged a conference call with David Gillis, director general of the Ecosystem Science Directorate at DFO. The scientists say they had only heard about the cancellation of the 2013 field season through rumours, gossip and the media but nothing officially from the DFO. They were confused about why the government would mothball the facility for the summer when DFO only gives up control on Sept. 1.

2013/03/20: WpgFP: Ottawa bars freshwater research — Experimental Lakes Area work fully funded
The Harper government is refusing to permit fully funded freshwater research to take place this summer at the remote Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. A group of researchers from Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., was told this week they are barred from the site, despite starting their work last summer and spending thousands of dollars on an approved trip to one of the ELA lakes as recently as last month.

2013/03/19: CBC: Experimental Lakes closure risks federally funded research
Trent University water scientist worries delay or cancellation will leave questions about nano-materials A scientist with an $800,000 federal grant will not be able to conduct his research due to the shuttering of the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in northern Ontario. Dr. Chris Metcalfe, who was set to contaminate a lake with nanosilver and document its effects on the lake’s ecosystem, will have to put his experiment on hold. The grant for Metcalfe, of Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, a branch of the federal Department of Industry.

The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

2013/03/21: CBC: Oil recovery vessel ran aground en route to federal tanker announcement
An oil spill recovery vessel ran aground en route to a federal announcement on oil tanker safety in Vancouver on Monday, officials have confirmed. The vessel was making a 12-hour trip from its base in Esquimalt to Vancouver for a tanker safety announcement by Federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver when it struck an uncharted sandbar near Sandheads at the mouth of the Fraser River near Steveston.

2013/03/20: CBC: First Nations say they will fight oilsands, pipeline
Minister of Natural Resources says pipeline projects are in First Nations’ economic interest An alliance of First Nations leaders is preparing to fight proposed new pipelines in the courts and through unspecified direct action. Native leaders from Canada and the United States were on Parliament Hill on Wednesday to underline opposition to both the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines.

2013/03/20: G&M: Buoyancy of oil sands bitumen raises spill concerns
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver this week told a Vancouver audience that British Columbians have nothing to fear from Pacific exports of Canadian oil sands crude. “We have taken significant measures to protect against a spill,” the minister said. But one of the country’s top oil spill experts says exports of heavy crude pose added risks to the West Coast, since some oil sands blends are likely to sink in the case of a spill, complicating potential cleanup efforts.

2013/03/17: CBC: Northern Gateway panel tangled in web of aboriginal interests
First Nations lawyers have pressed Enbridge for detailed answers about title and rights
A top Northern Gateway Pipelines official says the company is trying to balance the many competing interests in the project, and realizes it may be impossible to satisfy them all. Federal review hearings into the $6-billion pipeline project continue Monday in Prince Rupert, B.C., where the three-person panel has been hearing about the company’s aboriginal engagement and public consultation.

2013/03/18: G&M: Pipeline denial would ‘fundamentally change’ relations with U.S.: Redford
Alberta Premier Alison Redford has warned that rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline by the Obama administration would undermine the economic relationship between the countries, and strengthen Canada’s resolve to look for new markets for its resources. During a visit to Ottawa Monday, Ms. Redford painted the Keystone project as vital not only to Alberta but to Canada’s national interest – and slammed federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, saying he had betrayed those Canadian interests when he talked down the pipeline proposal during a trip to Washington last week. Federal and provincial leaders have launched an intense lobbying campaign to win approval from President Barack Obama for the controversial pipeline…

And in Saskatchewan:

2013/03/19: CSM: Canadian coal plant retrofit could be a ‘game changer’
A recent story from E&E reported on the progress of Canadian utility SaskPower’s 43-year-old coal plant at its Boundary Dam Power Station. The facility is being retrofitted to capture roughly 90 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions and store the gas deep underground. The Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project will see Unit #3 at a coal-fired power plant located at Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, rebuilt with a fully-integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS) system. It will be the first commercial-scale power plant equipped with a fully integrated CCS system. Operations are expected to begin in 2014.

Also in Saskatchewan, that IPAC-CO2 scandal continues to fester:

2013/03/20: CBC: Mystery company uncovered by U of R raises ‘serious concerns’
Five professors created for-profit research firm CBC News has obtained a confidential report prepared for University of Regina officials which outlines “serious concerns” over a mysterious company that has been linked to litigation involving the school. In November, the university sued two private companies for allegedly misappropriating carbon capture technology developed at the institution. In its statement of defence, one of those companies — HTC Purenergy — references a research program called Gen Five Carbon Capture Research. That was a funding proposal attempting to secure $7.75 million dollars in research funding from Doosan, the other company named in the U of R lawsuit. That proposal appears to have caused significant confusion and friction between the university and the private companies. Lawyers for the university submitted a report to administration about the matter, in May 2011.

In Manitoba, flooding is possible. There is a lot of snow and it depends on how fast it melts:

Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:

2013/03/23: CBC: Suzuki charity denies benefit from game with pipeline bombs
Ontario taxpayer-funded ‘Pipe Trouble’ has raised serious concerns about advocating violence The developer of a controversial video game that included depictions of pipeline bombings had said a portion of any proceeds of the game would go to the David Suzuki Foundation, but the organization has denied any relationship with the game maker. The game Pipe Trouble lets players build pipelines to move gas across landscapes, while balancing costs and potentially angering farmers and environmentalists. It was paid for by Ontario taxpayers and posted on the website of the province’s public broadcaster, TVO, as a companion to a documentary about local opposition to pipelines in northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta. Pop Sandbox game developer Alex Jansen said the game is meant to be a learning experience.

2013/03/19: BBerg: Los Angeles Halts Using Electricity From Coal Plants
Los Angeles’s municipal utility will stop buying electricity generated from coal and increase its use of renewable energy sources in a bid to cut greenhouse- gas emissions linked to climate change. The city’s Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest municipal-owned utility, will phase out the electricity it imports from the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona and Intermountain Power in Utah, according to a statement today. The two plants provide 39 percent of the city’s power. “The era of coal is over,” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today in a statement. “By divesting from coal and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, we reduce our carbon footprint and set a precedent for the national power market.”

Looking forward to 2016?

Now that he doesn’t need their vote any more, how will Obama treat liberals and their policy issues?

2013/03/22: WhiteHouse:B: PCAST Releases New Climate Report
Today the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a letter to the President describing six key components the advisory group believes should be central to the Administration’s strategy for addressing climate change.

2013/03/19: BBerg: NRC Delays Action on Vent Plan While to Study Options
U.S. nuclear regulators delayed action on a recommendation that utilities install radiation filters at 31 U.S. reactors, a victory for the industry that estimated the proposal may cost as much as $20 million per unit. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday said its staff should consider other approaches that would block release of radiation during an accident. The standards, developed in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, must be in place by March 2017, according to a commission statement.

2013/03/22: TheHill:e2W: GOP lawmaker wants Senate on record about carbon taxes
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) might put lawmakers on the record, indirectly at least, about whether they support taxing industrial carbon emissions to help confront climate change. Blunt has filed an amendment to the Senate Democrats’ budget plan that would require a 60-vote threshold for any legislation that imposes a federal carbon tax or fee.

2013/03/18: TheHill:e2W: Senator [Roy Blunt (R-Mo)] places hold on EPA nominee [Gina McCarthy]
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Monday that he would place a procedural hold on President Obama’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Blunt threatened to block the confirmation of Gina McCarthy, who currently heads EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, until he gets an update on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to repair a levee on the Mississippi River system.

The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:

2013/03/20: Resilience: Victory at Hand for the Climate Movement?
There are signs the climate movement could be on the verge of a remarkable and surprising victory. If we read the current context correctly, and if the movement can adjust its strategy to capture the opportunity presented, it could usher in the fastest and most dramatic economic transformation in history. This would include the removal of the oil, coal and gas industries from the economy in just a few decades and their replacement with new industries and, for the most part, entirely new companies. It would be the greatest transfer of wealth and power between industries and countries the world has ever seen.

To understand this incredible potential we first have to step back and understand the unique structure of this social change movement, which may rank among the most influential in history. It is simplistic to characterise it as an alliance of grass roots organisations and activists pitched against a rich and well connected adversary. While that is part of the story, it is more accurately understood as an idea whose tentacles reach into every tier of government, the world’s largest companies and financial institutions, and throughout the academic and science communities.

Because of this, it is winning the battle from within: Its core arguments and ideas are clearly right; being endorsed by the world’s top science bodies and any significant organisation that has examined them.

Meanwhile among the ‘Sue the Bastards!’ contingent:

2013/03/22: CDreams: EPA Favors ‘Bee-Toxic Pesticides’ Over Future of Food, Groups Charge
The EPA has refused to protect bees, “so we’ve been compelled to sue,” said food safety group Arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed in its obligation to protect the nation’s bee population — one of the Earth’s most vital pollinators — from dangerous pesticides, a group of beekeepers and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court saying the EPA’s inaction is causing great harm to biodiversity and the future of food in the U.S.

2013/03/20: BBerg: Pennsylvania Judge Orders Records Opened in Fracking Case
A Pennsylvania judge, handing a victory to local media and health groups, ordered documents unsealed in a settlement between gas-drillers and homeowners who accused the companies of contaminating their water. Common Pleas Court Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca said in a ruling today that the natural-gas drillers failed to overcome the presumption that the records should be open unless the companies, including Fort Worth, Texas-based Range Resources Corp. (RRC), showed they’d suffer harm to trade secrets or reputation.

2013/03/19: TheHill:e2W: Manufacturers sue EPA over soot rule
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is challenging the stronger standards on fine particulate matter, or soot, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued in December. NAM filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The EPA rule that manufacturers are challenging would lower the annual exposure standard for soot to 12 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 15.

It looks like this BP trial over the Gulf oil spill is going to take a long while:

2013/03/19: BBC: Transocean ‘could have done more’ to detect oil rig problems
Transocean could have done more to detect problems before the fatal Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster in 2010, the company’s chief executive has said. But Steven Newman said the company was not responsible for safety on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which was operated by oil giant BP. An explosion on the rig killed 11 people and led to one of the worst oil disasters in history.

2013/03/20: PennLive: Both sides agree on tough new fracking standards
Some of the nation’s biggest oil and gas companies have made peace with environmentalists, agreeing to a voluntary set of tough new standards for fracking in the Northeast that could lead to a major expansion of drilling. The program announced Wednesday will work a lot like Underwriters Laboratories, which puts its familiar UL seal of approval on electrical appliances that meet its standards. In this case, drilling and pipeline companies will be encouraged to submit to an independent review of their operations. If they are found to be abiding by a list of stringent measures to protect the air and water from pollution, they will receive the blessing of the new Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development, created by environmentalists and the energy industry.

2013/03/21: CNN: Top solar panel maker goes bankrupt
Suntech Power Holdings has said its main subsidiary in China is bankrupt – Until recently Suntech was the world’s largest producer of solar panels – Stark illustration of the declining fortunes of the global solar industry

2013/03/20: BBerg: Biggest Solar Collapse in China Imperils $1.28 Billion: Energy
Investors stand to lose most of the $1.28 billion they put into Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP) after the solar manufacturer said it wouldn’t resist a bankruptcy petition filed in China. The company, based in Wuxi, outside Shanghai, had more than $2 billion in debt and defaulted on $541 million in bonds due on March 15, prompting eight Chinese banks to ask a local court to push Suntech’s main unit into insolvency.

2013/03/18: BBC: Hinkley nuclear plant set to get go-ahead
Planning permission is expected to be given later for French firm EDF Energy to build the first new nuclear power plant in the UK for generations. The proposed £14bn power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset would be capable of powering five million homes.

Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

2013/03/22: PostMedia: Trans-border nuclear waste shipment meeting increased resistance
Activists are mobilizing on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to block a proposed plan to secretly transport truckloads of intensely radioactive liquid waste through Eastern Ontario to South Carolina.
[…]
Pending final federal approvals, about 23,000 litres of nitric acid solution containing highly enriched uranium (HEU) is to be transported under armed guard from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.’s Chalk River nuclear laboratories to the U.S. government’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina for reprocessing. A U.S. official says the Crown corporation has agreed to pay the $60 million cost.

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

A Simple Plea

Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer — no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field … and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

<regards>

-het

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

“The era of coal is over. By divesting from coal and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, we reduce our carbon footprint and set a precedent for the national power market.” –Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa